Overview
Presence updates let users know whether you’re online, offline, typing, or recording. You can also subscribe to other users’ presence to detect when they’re online or typing.
Presence Types
Baileys supports the following presence types:
| Type | Description |
|---|
available | User is online |
unavailable | User is offline |
composing | User is typing |
recording | User is recording audio |
paused | User stopped typing |
Send Presence Update
Update your presence status to let others know your availability.
Set Online/Offline Status
// Set yourself as available (online)
await sock.sendPresenceUpdate('available')
// Set yourself as unavailable (offline)
await sock.sendPresenceUpdate('unavailable')
The presence expires after about 10 seconds. If you want to stay online, you need to periodically send presence updates.
Send Typing Indicators
Show typing or recording indicators in specific chats.
const jid = '[email protected]'
// Show typing indicator
await sock.sendPresenceUpdate('composing', jid)
// Show recording indicator
await sock.sendPresenceUpdate('recording', jid)
// Stop typing (pause)
await sock.sendPresenceUpdate('paused', jid)
Typing Example
Recording Example
const jid = '[email protected]'
// Start typing
await sock.sendPresenceUpdate('composing', jid)
// Simulate typing for 3 seconds
await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, 3000))
// Stop typing
await sock.sendPresenceUpdate('paused', jid)
// Send message
await sock.sendMessage(jid, { text: 'Hello!' })
const jid = '[email protected]'
// Start recording indicator
await sock.sendPresenceUpdate('recording', jid)
// Simulate recording for 5 seconds
await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, 5000))
// Stop recording
await sock.sendPresenceUpdate('paused', jid)
// Send voice message
await sock.sendMessage(jid, {
audio: { url: './audio.mp3' },
mimetype: 'audio/mp4'
})
Subscribe to Presence Updates
Subscribe to a user’s or group’s presence to receive real-time updates about their online status and typing indicators.
const jid = '[email protected]'
// Subscribe to presence updates
await sock.presenceSubscribe(jid)
Listen for Presence Updates
Once subscribed, listen for presence updates using the presence.update event.
sock.ev.on('presence.update', ({ id, presences }) => {
console.log(`Presence update for ${id}:`, presences)
// presences is an object mapping participant JID to presence data
for (const [participantJid, presence] of Object.entries(presences)) {
console.log(`${participantJid} is ${presence.lastKnownPresence}`)
if (presence.lastSeen) {
console.log(`Last seen: ${new Date(presence.lastSeen * 1000)}`)
}
}
})
Presence Data Structure
The presence data contains:
interface PresenceData {
lastKnownPresence: 'unavailable' | 'available' | 'composing' | 'recording' | 'paused'
lastSeen?: number // Unix timestamp in seconds
}
Complete Example
Here’s a complete example showing how to track presence and respond to typing:
import makeWASocket from '@whiskeysockets/baileys'
const sock = makeWASocket({
// your config
})
// Subscribe to a contact's presence
const contactJid = '[email protected]'
await sock.presenceSubscribe(contactJid)
// Handle presence updates
sock.ev.on('presence.update', async ({ id, presences }) => {
for (const [jid, presence] of Object.entries(presences)) {
if (presence.lastKnownPresence === 'composing') {
console.log(`${jid} is typing...`)
} else if (presence.lastKnownPresence === 'recording') {
console.log(`${jid} is recording...`)
} else if (presence.lastKnownPresence === 'available') {
console.log(`${jid} is online`)
} else if (presence.lastKnownPresence === 'unavailable') {
console.log(`${jid} is offline`)
if (presence.lastSeen) {
const lastSeenDate = new Date(presence.lastSeen * 1000)
console.log(`Last seen: ${lastSeenDate.toLocaleString()}`)
}
}
}
})
// When sending a message, show typing indicator first
async function sendMessageWithTyping(jid: string, text: string) {
// Show typing
await sock.sendPresenceUpdate('composing', jid)
// Simulate typing delay
await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, 2000))
// Send message
await sock.sendMessage(jid, { text })
// Stop typing
await sock.sendPresenceUpdate('paused', jid)
}
await sendMessageWithTyping(contactJid, 'Hello, how are you?')
Notifications on Mobile
If a desktop client is active, WhatsApp doesn’t send push notifications to the mobile device. If you want to receive notifications on your phone while your bot is running, mark your Baileys client as offline:
// Mark offline to receive notifications on mobile
await sock.sendPresenceUpdate('unavailable')
const sock = makeWASocket({
markOnlineOnConnect: false // Don't auto-mark as online
})
Auto-Presence on Connection
By default, Baileys marks you as online when the connection opens. You can disable this:
const sock = makeWASocket({
auth: state,
markOnlineOnConnect: false // Stay offline on connect
})
// Later, manually go online
await sock.sendPresenceUpdate('available')